Being in college is great but sometimes the busy schedule forces us to lose site of ourselves and our health. This article was written by my wonderful co-worker, Ash, and it explores the importance of self-care and different practices that you can do for a healthy mind, body, and soul.

Hi y’all! My name is Ash. I am a third-year student at CSU working toward a Social Work major and Women’s Studies and French minor. I serve as one of the Alternative Break Site Leaders for Year 2, and I recently got the opportunity to lead an Alternative Spring Break through Year 2 with incredible participants where we talked about our impact on the environment. I identify as a white non-binary person (they/them/theirs) and I love dogs and reading.

When Jordan told me about the potential subjects for this piece, I gravitated toward the topic of self-care. Many of us have heard the term but what does self-care really mean? Psychcentral.com defines self-care as “any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health (Michael).” For me, self-care activities make me feel happy and content. They are activities that I don’t always have to do, rather activities that I want to do. I often gravitate toward self-care after I have had an emotionally draining day. This could look like watching my favorite “feel good” shows (highly recommend “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” and “Queer Eye”), reading a good book, listening to a great podcast, writing poetry, and working out.

Some self-care ideas:

• Watching shows
• Reading
• Walks
• Petting dogs/cats/animals
• Listening to podcasts
• Connecting with nature
• Writing
• Gardening
• Cooking or baking with yourself/others

Sometimes, we are so busy with school and life and self-care can seem like extra work or too much to do. When having a hard day, self-care can look different. It may be doing my laundry, making sure I have three meals a day, and cleaning my room.

Basic self-care ideas from @nalgonapositivitypride:

• Remove food labels
• Deep breaths
• Comfy clothes
• Time management
• Meaningful connections
• Sitting with the feelings or seeking help
• Stretching
• Social media detox
• Honor hunger
• Unsubscribe from diet culture

Finally, self-care can be a radical act. People with subordinated identities often experience constant prejudice and microaggressions (asking some “what are they,” misgendering someone) throughout the day that can make it difficult to go outside and interact with people. People with subordinated identities are often aiming for survival every day, and self-care is about improving ones’ quality of life. Self-care also exemplifies the inherent value of every person. The inherent value that those with subordinated identities are often not given by other people.

The best part about self-care is that it is all about what will nourish and fulfill you and your body. Think about what activities bring you joy, what activities will help you when you’re feeling low, and what your body and mind need from you. Self-care is about telling your body that you care about it and that you are a valuable human being. Good luck and watch some Queer Eye.